HB3824

HB3824 creates a state framework for battery-facility fire standards, inspections, emergency plans and first-responder training. The act took effect September 1, 2025, but its new chapter applies only to facilities with capacity of at least one megawatt-hour and a commercial operations date on or after January 1, 2027. The insurance commissioner determines the criteria for that operations date. It is not a new requirement covering every existing battery installation or small household battery. Final law.

State standards: The insurance commissioner must adopt rules for design, installation, operation, safety and testing based solely on the specified UL Solutions and National Fire Protection Association standards. The act gives UL 9540A and the 2023 or later edition of NFPA 855 as examples. The commissioner may update rules as those source standards change. Facilities must meet the adopted standards in effect when their first building-permit or similar local-authorization application is submitted. The statute establishes this rulemaking framework; it does not print a complete engineering standard or establish a particular setback distance in its text. Standards provision.

Unless another statute expressly authorizes it, a city or county cannot adopt, maintain or enforce rules in the covered field that are inconsistent with those state standards. This is a limit on inconsistent local regulation, not a statement that local officials have no role.

Independent evaluations: Before commercial operation, the city—or county for an unincorporated site—may request an independent evaluation of design, safety and installation. The battery operator selects and pays a Texas-licensed independent engineer or another appropriately qualified consultant, who must report compliance deficiencies and recommended corrections to the requesting government.

The operator must make specified documents available if it holds or creates them: at the first permit/authorization application, site layout, manufacturer specifications, UL reports/listings, NFPA documentation, electrical drawings, monitoring procedures and fire-protection documentation; at installation’s start, the emergency plan and hazard-mitigation analysis. Separately, at least every five years, battery operators must commission and provide local government a fire-safety report covering enclosures, maintenance, emergency planning, hazards, monitoring/alarm history, fire-system testing and ventilation or equivalent safety equipment.

Emergency planning and training: Covered operators and municipally owned utilities must prepare a site-specific plan addressing risks—including potential environmental effects of equipment failure—hazard mitigation, shutdown/isolation, damaged equipment, drills, emergency communications and protection of nearby residents, neighboring property and responders. Before commercial operation, the plan goes to the local fire-protection responder. The plan and safety data sheets or comparable documents must also be accessible on site. Emergency-plan requirements.

They must offer local first responders education and annual training at no cost to the responders, including technology characteristics, responder protection, hazards, response protocols and an on-site review of access and major equipment. The statute requires an offer; it does not say every responder has already attended or that every emergency can be prevented.

The operator definition includes cooperatives, electric utilities, generators, self-generators and other owners/operators. Municipal utilities are expressly included in the standards and emergency-plan/training duties. Utility-owned supporting equipment is excluded from the facility definition; that does not amount to excluding every utility-owned battery resource from the chapter. Definitions and coverage.

Enforcement: The commissioner must delegate disciplinary/enforcement authority to the state fire marshal and adopt an appropriate administrative-penalty schedule under Government Code Section 417.010. That existing framework considers seriousness, harm, prior violations, deterrence, correction efforts and intent, and provides procedures for contesting penalties. HB3824 does not set a single flat dollar fine in its text. Enforcement provision and cross-referenced procedures.